Credit Cards

[Jerry Simon]

Saw this on another HI forum. Just ordered mine.

https://squareup.com/

[kurt]

I just ordered mine.

[Jim Morrison]

Am I an anachronism? OK of course I am. Let me be more specific: In 24 years, I have never accepted credit cards and -to my knowledge- have never lost an inspection because I don't take (that is, pay a middleman for the privilege of accepting) plastic. I get paid by cash or check every day, every time. Been burnt just twice in all that time.

Give it to me straight, fellas. How do you get paid? Please tell me that I'm not the last man standing.

[AHI in AR]

I don't take plastic. I have lost VERY few jobs through the last dozen years due to this. In fact, the last one I lost had to have been at least 3 years ago. I don't keep a log, but it isn't common at all. Bad checks? I have had one in 12 years -- and it was only temporarily bad -- it was good a couple of days later.

I suppose if I operated in a market where credit cards were the norm among my competitors I would have little choice but to accept them, and my prices would rise correspondingly. The jobs where customers don't give you a credit card would just result in a little bit more profit. As it currently stands, when my clients book a job with me it simply isn't a problem when I tell them I take cash or checks only.

[kurt]

Give it to me straight, fellas. How do you get paid? Please tell me that I'm not the last man standing.

No, I'm still standing with you. There's just been a few times when folks forget their checkbook, or have some equally lame excuse. I simply need to offer the service, and this is as cheap and easy as anything I've seen.

[Richard Moore]

Give it to me straight, fellas. How do you get paid? Please tell me that I'm not the last man standing.

No, I'm still standing with you. There's just been a few times when folks forget their checkbook, or have some equally lame excuse. I simply need to offer the service, and this is as cheap and easy as anything I've seen.

Also always been only cash or check. Even when they forget the checkbook, I have always got one quickly in the mail. In other words, I have never been burnt. But, having the ability, on rare occasions, to take credit cards without any monthly fees is very tempting. Trouble is, I would have to finally upgrade my original iPhone as it only works on the 3G and up. Well...I've been looking for an excuse to do that anyway.

[Brandon Whitmore]

I'm always concerned with what info. can be pulled off of a cell phone while the info. is in space. I'm sure the card reader scrambles the info. so it can't be read by a hacker......

Give it to me straight, fellas. How do you get paid? Please tell me that I'm not the last man standing.

I didn't, then I did, now I don't.

[mgbinspect]

I used to accept cards, but the monthly fee was annoying. So, now I just accept cards through PayPal. The fee per transaction is a bit higher, but it's still cheaper than a monthly fee to process cards.

PayPal's great! It's easy. You can create invoice templates with your logo. You can download PayPal software right into your Android and send the "request Payment" right from the field, if necessary. Payment is usually immediate - no waiting for things to post.

I usually get paid by card about two to three times a month.

[Marc]

Also always been only cash or check. Even when they forget the checkbook, I have always got one quickly in the mail. In other words, I have never been burnt. But, having the ability, on rare occasions, to take credit cards without any monthly fees is very tempting. Trouble is, I would have to finally upgrade my original iPhone as it only works on the 3G and up. Well...I've been looking for an excuse to do that anyway.

Same here. With T-Mobile about to be bought up by AT&T, maybe now is the time to upgrade from my T-Mobile with a Windows Mobile 6 platform to an Android and get the Square interface. I can't stand AT&T and accepting credit cards will grow in popularity once people know that you accept them.

Marc

[mgbinspect]

Also always been only cash or check. Even when they forget the checkbook, I have always got one quickly in the mail. In other words, I have never been burnt. But, having the ability, on rare occasions, to take credit cards without any monthly fees is very tempting. Trouble is, I would have to finally upgrade my original iPhone as it only works on the 3G and up. Well...I've been looking for an excuse to do that anyway.

Same here. With T-Mobile about to be bought up by AT&T, maybe now is the time to upgrade from my T-Mobile with a Windows Mobile 6 platform to an Android and get the Square interface. I can't stand AT&T and accepting credit cards will grow in popularity once people know that you accept them.

Marc

I hate credit and credit cards. Credit is the only remaining legal form of slavery in America.

I only process card, like Kurt said, for those who forgot their check book. I think we've all learned that once a product is delivered, folks don't feel anywhere near as motivated to make the payment - human nature, I guess. So, for the forgotten check book or the folks that are tight on funds, the credit card is a necessary evil. It sure beats calling someone for a few weeks to dog them over the payment.

[emalernee]

I am somewhat two-faced when it comes to payments. I accept only checks or cash for my business, but only have a debit/credit card for my personal bank account. If a service or store won't take debit, I go elsewhere.

I am seeing more bank drafts from my clients as they also have went to paperless banking. I am looking into accepting cards for that reason and also think having cards listed on my website may keep potential clients from going elsewhere.

[Bain]

I use PayPal, just because I'd rather pay a fee than maintain and chase a list of receivables. The only downside to Squareup is that it doesn't look like you can enter card info when it's given over the phone, which is often the case for me with out-of-towners.

[tim5055]

I use PayPal, just because I'd rather pay a fee than maintain and chase a list of receivables. The only downside to Squareup is that it doesn't look like you can enter card info when it's given over the phone, which is often the case for me with out-of-towners.

There must be a way to do it manually, but they charge more. On the bottom of the pricing page: "If you enter credit card numbers manually, Square costs 3.5% + 15¢ per transaction. "

[Ben H]

I didn't read it, but when square up launched last year, I looked into and found they didn't have deep financial backing yet. All transaction were limited to under 500.00 a week via the process. That turned me off. That may have changed now, dunno. If so, I'll be looking into again. They used to be 6 months behind on the card reader as well.

To my knowledge, it was created by a couple dudes who worked at google. They approached the dude who started Digg.com (Kevin Rose) to back them. He was wall about it.

I think it's a great idea, hopefully they've gotten the kinks ironed out.

[Robert E Lee]

I have been using Squareup for several months now. Works real well (great WOW factor from clients) when I started the charge was 2.75% plus .15 for each swiped transaction and 3.00% if the card # was keyed in. They recently dropped the .15 fee for each transaction and I believe the current limit is $1,000.00 per 7 days. I went over that amount one week last month so they end up holding the excess for 30 days. I sent an email about increasing the limit and seems that is possible, but just haven't gotten around to getting the process started yet. I don't push C/C payment, but it seems more and more folks don't carry a check book anymore.

[Ben H]

Good to know Robert. I guess I should look into it again!

[ejager]

Just got my first payment by email this weekend.

http://www.interac.ca/consumers/product ... ansfer.php

[randynavarro]

Does anyone know the law about charging a higher fee if a credit card is used?

Remember at the gas pump, cash was one price and credit card was a higher price? I've since heard that form of pricing is illegal but it's only been hearsay.

[Nolan Kienitz]

Does anyone know the law about charging a higher fee if a credit card is used?

Remember at the gas pump, cash was one price and credit card was a higher price? I've since heard that form of pricing is illegal but it's only been hearsay.

In Texas you cannot have two prices (IE: Credit Card vs. Cash). At least that is what one of the TX State Tax folks told me a number of years ago.

[Marc]

Does anyone know the law about charging a higher fee if a credit card is used?

Remember at the gas pump, cash was one price and credit card was a higher price? I've since heard that form of pricing is illegal but it's only been hearsay.

I'm not aware of any law to that effect, but the merchant account applications that I've seen don't allow you to charge more just because the payee tendered a CC.

I don't patronize any establishment that has a higher price for CC payments.

Marc

[caryseidner]

I also signed up for Square after I saw it on another forum. Got an email this am letting me know that the device has shipped and I should have it in a few days.

I haven't accepted credit cards for about 2 years now and I don't think I've lost any business from it, but there have been a few hurdles with out-of-town clients and people forgetting to bring their checkbook to the inspection.

I was looking for a service, like Square, that only charges a processing fee. I do pass that fee along to my clients and have had no problems with doing that. I guess Marc won't hire me though []

[Mark P]

I accept Cc through Paypal. Maybe 1 or 2 jobs a month pay this way. I don't like paying the fee, but it has made life easier in dealing with clients I never meet face-to-face.

Some people like to pay everything with their Cc (like my wife) beacuse that have a rewards or cash back card. I can relate.

[John Kogel]

I take Visa and Mastercard, and I'd say about 75% of my transactions are CC. 90% of the younger buyers carry only plastic. I remember one young client who had to write me a check on his mommy's account. I swear he didn't know how.

I fill in a slip, give them a receipt, phone it in when I get home. Costs about $10 per on average, UNPS, maybe that's only in Canada? I just accept that as a cost of biz, cheques and cash being a bonus. Sometimes. i'll drop the price a bit for cash. Once in a blue moon, there's a problem with the card and I have to call the clients to straighten it out.

I've steered away from using the cell so far. There's a bit of hacking going on, with the new phones out there. So they say.

[Tom Raymond]

Does anyone know the law about charging a higher fee if a credit card is used?

Remember at the gas pump, cash was one price and credit card was a higher price? I've since heard that form of pricing is illegal but it's only been hearsay.

Gas stations still do that here, with one odd ball that actually discounts $.07 a gallon for debit card pay at the pump purchases.

We accept credit cards at the day job, (Visa, Master Card, Discover) and charge a service fee of 3% on transactions over $1000. Some people still use their cards, but most will find another way to pay. Even with the disincentive our annual processing fees are roughly equal to my net salary. I'll be sticking to cash and checks, thank you very much.

[caryseidner]

Well, the swiper device arrived today and I made 2 test transactions. One through the swiper and a second one that I keyed in. Both were very simple and worked perfectly, though the swipe was obviously easier.